Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov (left) with Uzbek President Islam Karimov with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the foreground (file photo) (ITAR-TASS)
DUSHANBE, September 22, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Tajikistan's border guards deny claims made by their Uzbek counterparts that they are holding two Uzbek citizens, including one soldier, in custody.

Safarali Saifulloev, a high-ranking official with the Tajik border guards, told RFE/RL's Tajik Service today that the two Uzbeks were released and sent back to their country on September 21.

"They were detained because they were conducting work on Tajik territory in an area where the border is still not delineated by an inter-state agreement," Saifulloev said. "There are many areas like that along our common border," he added.

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan regularly accuse each other of border violations.